The sale of a gun used by a felon to kill a 13-year-old Utah
girl and wound two sheriff’s deputies in Washington state earlier
this year highlights the ambiguities associated with private
firearms transactions.

Anthony A. Martinez already had at least three felony
convictions when he purchased the .40-caliber Glock from a former
Utah police cadet, according to Utah court records and documents
released by prosecutors in Kitsap, Wash.

The felonies prevented Martinez from buying a gun from a
licensed dealer. But the law gets trickier when there’s a
transaction between two individuals.

Private parties selling guns are not required to conduct a
background check on the buyer. But if the seller knows the buyer is
prohibited from possessing a firearm, or reasonably should know,
then the seller just committed a felony under federal law.

There is no evidence the sale to Martinez was illegal, nor was
there evidence anyone was investigating.

Carlisle also attempted to contact the man who bought the gun
originally and the man who sold it to Martinez. But neither attempt
was successful.